A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.

INTERESTING STARTUPS

SayInt (2016, Hyderabad), AI based conversation analytics solution provider, Founder is Head Of Engineering of Teletext Holiday s, Ex-Microsoft, Capgemini and alumnus of North Carolina State University. Local comparable is Uniphore (2008, Chennai, $13.3M). Global comparables are VoiceBase (2010, Novato, $20M) and Cogito Corporation (2007, Boston, $22.7M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Droom (2014, Delhi), online marketplace to buy and sell automobiles, raises $30M in Series D round of funding led by Digital Garage and Toyota Tsusho. Link

Mfine (2017, Bangalore), mobile application for online consultation, raises $4.2M in Series A round of funding led by Prime Venture Partners, Stellaris Venture Partners and Mayur Abhaya. Link

Open (2016, Bangalore), on-premise banking services platform for businesses, raises around $2M in Pre-Series A round of funding led by Unicorn India Ventures, Recruit Co. Ltd, ISME-ACE and BetterCapital AngelList Syndicate. Link

ePayLater (2016, Mumbai), checkout platform that offers pay later option to users, partners with IDFC Bank (1997, Mumbai), private sector full stack bank, to bring instant digital credit to individuals transacting online and offline. Link

Union Bank Of India (1919, Mumbai), commercial bank, raises undisclosed amount of funding, by selling 40% stake to Dai-ichi Life, Tokyo-based mutual insurance companies. Link

NeoStencil (2014, Delhi), online test preparation platform for IAS and other government service examinations, acquires  Test Cafe (2016, Noida), online test preparation platform, for an undisclosed amount. Link

MakeMyTrip (2000, Delhi), online travel agency for booking flights, hotels, buses, holiday packages, has become a “Direct Connect Partner” for Lufthansa Group (1954, Frankfurt), aviation company with worldwide operations, in India. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

LendingPoint (2014, Atlanta), direct online lender of personal loans, raises up to $600M committed credit facility from Guggenheim Securities. Link

Fundation (2011, New York City), platform for online lending to small business, raises $120M asset backed credit facility from SunTrust Bank. Link

OpenClassrooms (2007, Paris), provider of online courses and MOOC’s, raises $60M in Series B round of funding led by General Atlantic, Citizen Capital, Alven and Bpifrance. Link

Cloudvirga (2015, Irvine), provider of cloud-based intelligent mortgage platform designed to streamline the mortgage process, raises $50M in Series C round of funding led by Riverwood Capital with participation from Upfront Ventures. Link

DigiLens (2003, Sunnyvale), designs optical waveguide technology for HUD, AR and biometric applications, raises $25M in Series C round of funding from automotive parts manufacturing giant Continental. Link

Maisonette (2016, NYC), online marketplace of curated multi-category luxury products for baby and kids, raises $15M in Series A round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates, with participation from Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Thrive Capital, Lizzie & Jonathan Tisch, Vivi Nevo, Andrew Rosen and Marcus Wainwright. Link

A weekly newsletter summarizing recent activity in the Chinese startup ecosystem.

DEALS OF THE WEEK

China’s Tianqi Lithium buys $4.3B stake in Chile’s SQM
Tianqi Lithium, a Chengdu based lithium products supplier, acquires Sociedad Quimica Y Minera, a lithium producer, for $4.3B.

INTERESTING FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY IN CHINA

China’s iFlytek To Raise $567M To Expand Artificial Intelligence Investment
iFlytek Co Ltd (1999, Hefei), an artificial intelligence company, raises $567M in Private Placement.

JD.Com Invests $306M In Logistics Real Estate Developer ESR
ESR Cayman Ltd (2016, Hong Kong), a logistics real estate developer, raises $306M in undisclosed Series round led by JD.com Inc.

China’s FAW to invest $260M in EV startup Byton’s Series B round
Byton (2016, Nanjing), an electric car company, raises $260M in Series B round led by FAW Group.

Chinese self-driving tech startup Roadstar.ai raises industry record funding of $128M
Roadstar.ai (2017, Shenzhen), an AI-powered self-driving technology company, raises $128M in Series A round led by Shenzhen Capital Group and Wu Capital.

IFC proposes to offer up to $75M financing to China Education Group
China Education Group Company Limited (1999, China), an education group, raises $75M in undisclosed Series round led by International Finance Corporation.

Sequoia Capital Leads $28M Series A+ Round In Chinese Lifestyle Brand NOME
NOME (Guangzhou), a lifestyle brand company, raises $28M in Series A+ round led by Sequoia Capital, and Capital Today.

Foxconn, HanFor Join $17M Series B Round In Chinese AI Solutions Provider Trio.AI
Trio.AI (2016, Beijing), an AI Solutions Provider, raises $17M in Series B round led by HanFor, China Minsheng Investment Group, Foxconn Technology Group, and Xiamen Torch Group Co., Ltd.

HK-based Gravity Supply Chain raises additional $7M from Wavemaker
Gravity Supply Chain (2014, Hong Kong), a cloud-based supply chain management and logistics company provider, raises $7M in Series A round led by Wavemaker Partners.

Baidu Leads New Funding Round In Chinese Robotics Start-Up A.I.Nemo
A.I. Nemo (2014, Beijing), a robotics company, raises an undisclosed amount in Series B round led by Baidu Ventures.

Sequoia-backed Chinese heart valve developer Venus Medtech gets funding from DCP Capital
Venus MedTech (2009, Hangzhou), a heart valve developer, raises an undisclosed amount in undisclosed Series round led by DCP Capital.

INVESTMENTS BY CHINESE INVESTORS AND COMPANIES

China’s CDH Investments said to raise $1B for fifth mezzanine fund
CDH Investments, an investment management company, closes China-focused fifth mezzanine fund at $1B.

Gaw Capital Enters Distressed Real Estate Sector With $1B New Fund With Country Garden Unit
Gaw Capital, a Hong Kong-based private real estate investment firm, partners with Shenzhen Paladin Asset Management, an investment company, to launch $1B in real estate sector.

Hong Kong-based Jeneration Capital raising new $800M fund
Jeneration Capital Management, a Hong Kong-based investment company, raises a new fund at $800M.

Chinese VC Firm Sky9 Capital Closes $200M Fund For Early-stage Deals
Sky9 Capital, a Chinese early-stage venture capital firm, closes Sky9Capital Fund III at $200M.

Hong Kong’s Ion Pacific makes first close of debut structured secondaries fund
Ion Pacific, a Hong Kong-based investment and merchant bank provider, closes first close of debut structured secondaries fund.

A weekly newsletter summarizing recent activity and interesting startups in South East Asia.

INTERESTING COMPANIES FOUND

SG Rehabilitation (2017, Singapore) – Tele-Rehabilitation platform. Global Comparable include NextStep Robotics (2017, Baltimore, $750K) and Reflexion Health (2012, San Diego, $29.8M).
Beestro (2017, Hanoi) – App for doctor appointment booking and maintaining health records. Global Comparable include ZocDoc (2007, New York City, $223M) and We Doctor Group (2010, Hangzhou, $520M).

SEA – FUNDING UPDATES

Go-Jek raises funding
Go-Jek (2010, Jakarta), a bike taxi aggregator, raises $1.5B in undisclosed round of funding from Google, BlackRock, Temasek, and Allianz.

Carousell raises funding
Carousell (2012, Singapore), a P2P mobile listing platform, raises $85M in Series C round of funding from Rakuten Ventures and EDBI.

Carro raises funding
Carro (2015, Singapore), an online marketplace for used cars and auto finance, raises $60M in Series B round of funding from B Capital Group, Insignia Ventures Partners, and SoftBank Ventures Korea.

U-Hop raises funding
u-Hop (2015, Manila), a subscription-based taxi services provider, raises an undisclosed amount in Seed funding from The Money Team.

Travelio raises funding
Travelio (2014, Jakarta), a reverse auctions hotel booking platform, raises $4M in Series A round of funding from Insignia, Fenox Venture Capital, and Indogen capital.

VersaFleet raises funding
VersaFleet (2012, Singapore), a SaaS-based last mile dispatch management software provider, raises $2.1M in Pre-Series A round of funding from Prestellar Ventures.

Julo raises funding
Julo (2016, Jakarta), an app based platform for short-term personal loans, raises $5M in Series A round of funding from Skystar Capital, East Ventures. Gobi Partners, Convergence Ventures, Provident Capital, Central Capital Ventura, and Heyokha Brothers.

CCRManager raises funding
CCRManager (2016, Singapore), an online platform for distribution of trade finance assets, raises $6.5M in Series A round of funding from Francis Rozario.

Edukasyon raises funding
Edukasyon (2013, Makati), a student portal for scholarships and vocational courses, raises an undisclosed amount in Pre-Series A round of funding from KSR Ventures and French Partners.

SEA – RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Vostok acquires TaKanto
Vostok, a AR/VR content development studio provider, acquires TaKanto, a Singapore based VR content and VR applications provider, for undisclosed amount.

ShopBack acquires Seedly
ShopBack, an online product comparison and rewards platform, acquires Seedly, a Singapore based personal wealth management platform, for undisclosed amount.

Uber merges with Grab
Grab, a taxi booking app, merges with Uber, a mobile app provider, for undisclosed amount.

Bridge Data Centres acquires Permodalan Nasional Berhad’s two data centres
Bridge Data Centres, a Singapore based information technology and services provider, acquires two data centres from Permodalan Nasional Berhad’s, for an undisclosed amount.

Go-Jek expands into venture capital
Go-Jek, a Jakarta based bike taxi aggregator, expands into venture capital space with Go-Ventures.

VinaCapital increases stake in Kido Group
VinaCapital, an investment management company, increases stake in Kido Group, a Vietnam based food production group.

Grab launches food delivery platform
Grab, a taxi booking app provider, launches food delivery platform in Vietnam.

SportsHero enters Indonesia
SportsHero, a fantasy sports news, tips and analytics provider, expands into Indonesia.

Hyphens Pharma launches IPO
Hyphens Pharma, an Indonesia based pharmaceuticals company, launches IPO on the catalist board of the SGX.

Monk’s Hill Ventures raises Second fund
Monk’s Hill Ventures, a venture capital & private equity company, raises Second fund at $120M.

A weekly newsletter summarizing recent activity and interesting startups in South East Asia.

INTERESTING COMPANIES FOUND

Jala (2015, Yogyakarta) – IoT enabled solution for monitoring water condition in the shrimp farm. Global Comparable include The Yield (2014, Sydney) and Eruvaka (2012, Vijayawada, null).

Finfini (2016, Indonesia) – Data aggregation API provider. Global Comparable include Finicity (2000, South Jordan) and Plaid (2012, San Francisco, $84.5M).

SEA – FUNDING UPDATES

Sociolla raises funding
Sociolla (2014,Jakarta),an E-commerce company for cosmetics and beauty products,raises $12M in Series B round of funding from East Ventures, Sinar Mas, Yahoo Japan, and Istyle.

Jirnexu raises funding
Jirnexu (2012, Kuala Lumpur), a financial technology company, raises $11M in Series B round of funding from SBI Holdings, and SIG.

uCare raises funding
uCare (, Singapore), an artificial Intelligence powered healthcare company, raises an undisclosed amount in Series A round of funding from Walden International and Peter Lim.

Baania raises funding
Baania (2015, Bangkok), a real estate listing platform, raises an undisclosed amount in undisclosed round of funding from  Krungsri Finnovate, and PTT Public Company.

MediSix Therapeutics raises funding
MediSix Therapeutics ( 2018, Singapore), raises $20M in Series A round of funding from Temasek Holdings, Lightstone Ventures and Osage University Partners.

Techcombank raises funding
Techcombank (2013, Vietnam), a Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank, raises $370M in sale of 64.4 million treasury shares to undisclosed investors.

Dscaff raises funding
Dscaff (2013, Kuala Lumpur), a Scaffold manufacturer, raises an undisclosed amount in undisclosed Series round of funding from Navis Capital Partners.

SEA – RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Maybank Asset Management Group Bhd acquires Permodalan Nasional Bhd
Maybank Asset Management Group Bhd, a Malaysia’s largest financial services provider, acquires Permodalan Nasional Bhd, a Kuala Lumpur based investment vehicle of the Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputra, for undisclosed amount.

Fullerton Health acquires Intellicare Group
Fullerton Health, a leading provider of corporate healthcare solutions across the Asia Pacific, acquires Intellicare Group, a Philippine-based Health Maintenance Organization, for an undisclosed amount.

Dymon Asia Private Equity partners with TEE International Limited
Dymon Asia Private Equity, a leading Asia focused alternative investment management company partners with TEE International Limited, an investment holding company to  acquire Sembcorp Environment Pte. Ltd, a large asset development and management company, for S$20M.

AddVentures partners with Builk HG Robotics and Ralali
AddVentures, a Bangkok-headquartered venture fund, partners with Builk, a construction project management and collaboration platform, HG Robotics, a manufacturer of drones and unmanned underwater vehicles for commercial uses, and Ralali, a B2B e-commerce company for selling tools, for prospective investments.

JustCo partners with GIC
JustCo, a Singaporean co-working provider, partners with GIC, a sovereign wealth fund.

Carousell launches CarouPay digital wallet
Carousell, a P2P mobile listing platform, launches CarouPay, a digital wallet within the Carousell app.

Validus Capital and Lighthouse Canton Group launches LCV Trade Finance Fund
Validus Capital, a Singapore based small and medium-sized enterprises financing platform  and Lighthouse Canton Group, an independent asset manager to institutional investors and accredited private clients, launches launch $15M SME-focussed fund.

Go-Jek’s Go-Pay launches QR code-based payment services
Go-Jek’s Go-Pay, an Indonesia’s leading e-money wallet, launches QR code-based payment services.

A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.

INTERESTING STARTUPS

SleepyCat (2017, Kolkata), private label brand of mattresses, Founder is Ex-Space International, Deutsche Bank and alumnus of Indiana University Bloomington. Local comparables are Sundayrest (2015, Bangalore, $300K) and Ministry of Sleep (2015, Bangalore). Global comparables are Simba (2015, London, $92.9M) and Casper (2014, NYC, $240M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Raw Pressery (2013, Mumbai), Producer of cold pressed juices and cleansers, raises $10M in funding led by Sequoia Capital, Saama Capital and DSG Consumer Partners. Link

Future Lifestyle Fashions (2012, Mumbai), holding company of fashion apparel brand and retail stores, raises $25M in funding from L Catterton. Link

FreightBazaar (2012, Hyderabad), Online Marketplace for Freight Trucks, raises undisclosed amount in Pre-series A round of funding led by Omphalos Ventures India and  ah! Ventures. Link

JetPrivilege (2012, Mumbai), Independent loyalty and rewards management company, partners with Talentedge (2012, Mumbai), Digital learning portal for professional certification. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Cuebiq (2016, NYC), Business Intelligence company based on machine learning, raises $27M in Series B round of funding led by Goldman Sachs Principal Strategic Investments, Nasdaq Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, Tribeca Venture Partners and existing investors Tribeca Angels and TLcom Capital. Link

Incopro (2012, London), online brand & IP protection platform, raises $21M in funding led by Highland Europe. Link

Mynd Management (2016, Oakland), Provider of residential brokerage services, raises $20M in Series B round of funding led by Lightspeed Ventures, Canaan Partners and Jackson Square Ventures. Link

Rebbl (2012, Berkeley), manufactures drinks fortified with naturally occurring superfoods, raises $20M in funding led by Cavu Venture Partners. Link

Arevo (2013, California), Provider of 3D printing technology and services, raises $12.5M in Series B round of funding led by Asahi Glass with participation from Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, Leslie Ventures and Khosla Ventures. Link

Adzuna (2010, London), an online job discovery platform, raises $10.8M in Series C round of funding led by Smedvig Capital, Index Ventures, Passion Capital and LocalGlobe. Link

A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Fireflyarbooks (2018, Mumbai), an offering of Microconnect, is a series of augmented reality-based educational books for pre-primary children. Local comparables are Smartivity Labs (2015, Delhi, $113M) and Play Shifu (2016, Bangalore). Global comparables are Neo Bear (2009, Shanghai, $56M) and Alive Studios (2014, Dacula, $5M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

NewsDog (2016, Delhi), Web and  mobile-based news aggregator, raises $50M in Series C round of funding led by Tencent, venture capital firm DHVC, Legend Capital and Dotc United Group. Link

MilkBasket (2015, Gurgaon), Subscription based daily need items delivery platform, raises $7M in Series A round of funding led by Kalaari Capital, along with BeeNext and existing investors Unilever Ventures and Blume Ventures. Link

Mobisy (2008, Bangalore), Provider of SaaS-based distribution technology solutions for consumer companies, raises $3.5M in funding led by SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd (SVCL) and existing investor Ojas Partners. Link

Rocketium (2015, Bangalore), Online video creation platform, raises $300K in Seed round of funding led by Blume Ventures, TN Hari and Raghunandan G. Link

EarlySalary (2015, Pune), NBFC linked lending platform for consumer loans, acquires CashCare (2014, Mumbai), Consumer lending platform for eCommerce purchases, for an undisclosed amount, to expand into the consumer-financing business. Link

Infibeam (2010, Ahmedabad), e-commerce company, focused on developing successful e-commerce platforms and ecosystems, acquires Vavian International, Dubai-based digital payments processing company, for $1.17M. Link

Ola (2011, Bangalore), App-based asset-light cab operator, launched its service in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Canberra. Link

Flipkart (2007, Bangalore), Online shopping portal, launches Furnisure, a first-of-its-kind durability certified furniture store. Link

DailyNinja (2015, Bangalore), a hyperlocal platform for daily essentials, expands its service to hyderabad, plans to set up a warehouse in coming months. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

HMD Global (2016, Espoo), Manufacturer of Nokia branded smartphones and feature phones targeted at a range of consumers and price points, raises $100M in funding led by  Ginko Ventures’ Alpha Ginko VC branch. Link

Outreach (2013, Seattle), Provider of a customer engagement platform, raised $65M in Series D round of funding led by Spark Capital with participation from Sapphire Ventures and existing investors DFJ Growth, Four Rivers Group, Mayfield, MHS Capital, Microsoft Ventures and Trinity Ventures. Link

SafetyCulture (2004, Townsville), Provider of mobile-first audit solution for enterprises to manage workplace safety and maintain compliance requirements, raises $60M in Series C round of funding led by Tiger Global Management, Blackbird Ventures, Index Ventures, Morpheus Ventures and Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar. Link

TradingView (2011, Chicago), Social network and advanced charting software provider for traders, raised $37M in Series B round of funding led by Insight Venture Partners, with participation from Jump Capital and DRW Venture Capital. Link

OJO Labs (2015, Austin), Provider of AI-based assistant that can understand a user’s intent and preferences to answer consumer related question, raised $20.5M in Series B round of funding led by Realogy Holdings Corp., Royal Bank of Canada, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, ServiceMaster, LiveOak Venture Partners and Silverton Partners. Link

Scentbird (2013, NYC), Perfume subscription platform, raised $18.6M in Series A round of funding led by Goodwater Capital, with participation from Y Combinator, Rainfall Ventures, FundersClub, Soma Capital, Scrum Ventures and ERA. Link

Analyst Picks

• Datalogue (2016, New York City, $2.8M) – AI enabled automatic data preparation
  Market: Business Intelligence > Data Preparation > Suite
• Hevo (2016, Bangalore, $1M) – Data Integration platform
  Market: Business Intelligence > Data Preparation > Integration > Self-Serve
• Improvado (2015, San Francisco, $3M) – Reporting tool for Ads
  Market: Business Intelligence > BI/Analytics Verticals > Customer Life-cycle Management > Marketing > Campaign Analytics
• Contextere (2015, Ottawa, $1.2M) – Intelligent Industrial IoT software for Industrial workforce
  Market: Business Intelligence > BI/Analytics Verticals > Industry Specific > Industrial > Predictive
• Cumul.io (2015, Leuven) – SaaS-based data visualization and dashboarding platform
  Market: Business Intelligence > Data Discovery and Visualization > Visual Analytics

Funding Rounds

Series C, $159M
MiningLamp (2014, Beijing, $189M) – Bigdata solution to enterprises
Investors: Tencent, China Renaissance

Series D, $145M
ThoughtSpot (2012, Palo Alto, $306M) – Provides AI-enabled search-driven analytics platform for enterprises
Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, Sapphire Ventures, Future Fund

PE, $56.4M
Concentra (2005, London, $56.4M) – BI solutions for HR and SCM analytics.
Investors: One Peak Partners, Morgan Stanley, Connected Capital, Joseph Schull

Series E, $50M
Lucidworks (2007, Redwood City, $111M) – Search platform based on Apache Lucene and Solr Technologies
Investors: Top Tier Capital Partners, Silver Lake

Series D, $38.2M
ClickFox (2000, Atlanta, $80.2M) – Customer Experience Analytics Software
Investors: Arrowroot Capital

Series A, $5.9M
Neuro-ID (2014, Whitefish, $5.9M) – Consumer behavior analytics

Series B, $5M
Node (2014, San Francisco, $29.0M) – Contextual web personalization for B2B sales and marketing
Investors: Recruit Strategic Partners, WndrCo, David Brewer, Linnea Roberts, Marc Weiss

Series A, $4.2M
LocateAI (2014, San Francisco, $4.8M) – AI-based analytics platform for evaluating feasibility of store locations

Series A, $4M
Adverity (2014, Vienna, $4M) – Data Integration platform
Investors: Mangrove Capital Partners, Speedinvest, 42 Capital, Aws Grunderfonds

Angel, $3M
Improvado (2015, San Francisco, $3M) – Reporting tool for Ads
Investors: Auren Hoffman, Omar Tawakol, Nexus Venture Partners, 500 Startups, Rajeev Goel, Toby Gabriner, Kim Perell, Jeff Epstein, Rick Erwin, Ethan Beard, Charlie Songhurst, Russ Fradin, Bill Demas, David Yaffe, David Popowitz, Ariel Lebowits, Joe Zawadzki

Seed, $2M
ClicData (2008, Lille, $3M) – BI Solutions

Seed, $1.5M
StyleSage (2012, New York City, $3.9M) – Social signals for retailers

Seed, $1.5M
Etleap (2013, San Francisco, $1.6M) – Data Integration
Investors: First Round Capital, SV Angel, Liquid 2 Ventures, BoxGroup

Series A, $1.5M
Zaloni (2007, Durham, $9M) – Provider of enterprise data lake management solutions

Seed, $1.3M
Datalogue (2016, New York City, $2.8M) – AI enabled automatic data preparation

M&A

• Nokia acquires U.S. software supplier SpaceTime Insight Reuters
• Media monitor Meltwater acquires social analytics player Sysomos TechCrunch
• IBM buys aggregation and analytics software provider Armanta Finextra
• Uptake Acquires Asset Performance Technologies, World’s Most Comprehensive Library of Industrial Equipment Failure Data PR Newswire
• SentryOne Acquires Pragmatic Works Software PR Newswire
• Nortek Security & Control Acquires IntelliVision, Establishing Leadership in Artificial Intelligence and Video Analytics PR Newswire
• Optimove Expands Email Capabilities with Acquisition of the DynamicMail Business from PowerInbox PR Newswire
• S&P Global’s Acquisition of Kensho Technologies Hits Early Milestone; Expands Private Company Data Offering to Clients PR Newswire
• PriceHubble has acquired YouVal AIM Group

New Product Announcement

• Tableau Expands Platform with New Product, Tableau Prep PR Newswire
• Microsoft introduces Azure Sphere for securing IoT devices ZDNet
• SAP Introduces SAP® Digital Manufacturing Cloud PR Newswire
• Arcadia Data Unveils Arcadia Instant for KSQL, Industry’s First Native Visual Analytics for Apache Kafka®; Unlocks the Power of Real-Time Streaming Analytics for EveryonePRWeb
• TIBCO Launches Jaspersoft 7, Providing Immersive Business Intelligence Components for Developers PR Newswire
• SAP launches Hana; sees Indian cloud market at $4.1 bn by 2020 Moneycontrol
• Segment launches new GDPR compliance tools ZDNet
• CARTO Announces CARTO Traffico to Address Transportation Congestion and City Planning PRWeb
• DataWeave Launches AI-powered Counterfeit Products Detection Solution for Consumer Brands PR Newswire
• Openprise, an Oracle Marketing AppCloud Partner, Launches Application That Automates Critical Marketing Business and Data Management Processes PR Newswire
• SAP Unveils Intelligent Product Design Solution and Network of Digital Twins PR Newswire
• Splunk Launches IT Monitoring Platform: Insights for Infrastructure ChannelE2E
• Lattice Engines launches the first Customer Data Platform for Account-Based MarketingPR Newswire
• SnapLogic Introduces SnapLogic eXtreme to Help Data Engineers Operationalize Cloud-Based Big Data Integrations Business Wire
• RSi Unveils IRIS – World’s #1 On-Shelf Availability Platform that Empowers Users to Rule the Shelf, Drive Profits PR Newswire
• Pulsar Launches “Google Trends” for Social Media PR Newswire
• Teknowlogi Adds Marketplace Tool to Address Ongoing Business Challenges in Shipping Industry PR Newswire

New Geo Entry

• SAP launches public cloud data center in Saudi Arabia Trade Arabia
• Alteryx Expands to Alter Analytics in France PR Newswire
• Niche group takes strategic position in growing Melbourne suburb Real Estate Business

Business Partnership

• Adaptive Insights Business Planning Cloud Integrates with NetSuite ERP to Deliver Better Insights, Faster Decision Making PR Newswire
• Radius & Leadspace Join Forces To Lead $50 Billion Data Intelligence Market PR Newswire
• Accenture and SAP team on security for defense and security agencies Seeking Alpha
• Conversica Partners With Microsoft to Bring Conversational AI to Microsoft Dynamics 365 PRWeb

Company Announcement

• SAP SE boosts Digital Transformation at LTI with SAP S/4HANA DQ Channels
• CARTO Announces Data Enhancements to Unlock Use Cases for Location IntelligencePR Newswire

Earnings Release

• SAP, gaining market share, raises outlook Reuters
• Tableau Reports First Quarter 2018 Financial Results Seeking Alpha

New Feature Release

• Growing Customer Demand Drives Virtustream Healthcare Cloud Enhancements Business Wire

Key People Movement

• mParticle hires Adobe’s John Sedlak as chief revenue officer TechCrunch

Analyst Picks

• WorkMarshal (2017, Mumbai) – Task assignment and project management software
  Market: Enterprise Collaboration > Project Management > Suite
• Ayoga (2016, Bangalore) – Cloud-based collaboration platform for project management
  Market: Enterprise Collaboration > Project Management > Suite
• Unito (2015, Montreal, $2.6M) – Integration platform for tasks created in different platforms related to software development
  Market: Enterprise Collaboration > Project Management > Team and Task Management
• Zube (2015, San Francisco) – Project management for GitHub issues
  Market: Enterprise Collaboration > Project Management > Suite
• Hive (2015, New York City) – SaaS based Task Management Software
  Market: Enterprise Collaboration > Project Management > Team and Task Management

Funding Rounds

Series F, $150M
Fuze (2006, Cambridge, $500M) – Cross-platform video conference
Investors: Summit Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners

Series C, $40M
Parsable (2013, San Francisco, $68M) – Collaboration app for industrial teams
Investors: Future Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Airbus Ventures, Saudi Aramco, B37 Ventures

Conventional Debt, $25M
Mitel (1973, Kanata, $1.0M) – Integrated communication and Collaboration platform

Series A, $15M
Starmind (2010, Zurich, $15M) – AI-based software that make company know how available to employees
Investors: Digital+ Partners

Series A, $14.2M
Avaamo (2014, Los Altos, $23.5M) – Mobile-first enterprise secure messaging
Investors: Intel Capital, Ericsson, Mahindra Partners, Wipro, WI Harper Group

Series A, $7.8M
AnyDesk Software (2014, Stuttgart, $7.8M) – Remote desktop access application
Investors: EQT Ventures, Chris Hitchen, Andreas Burike

Series A, $5M
Clausematch (2012, Arundel, $6.8M) – Trading agreements negotiation platform
Investors: Index Ventures, Speedinvest, Talis Capital, Tom Glocer, Cristobal Conde

Series A, $5M
Targetprocess (2004, Amherst, $5M) – Project management software
Investors: EBRD, Zubr Capital

Seed, $4.5M
Slite (2016, Paris, $4.5M) – Note app for teams
Investors: Index Ventures, Y Combinator, EFounders, Nicolas Dessaigne

Seed, $2MUnito (2015, Montreal, $2.6M) – Integration platform for tasks created in different platforms related to software development
Investors: Mistral Ventures, 500 Startups, Social Capital, Real Ventures, YUL Ventures, Tom Williams

Seed, $1M
Coviu (2014, Eveleigh, $1M) – Web-based interactive video calls and conferencing using WebRTC
Investors: mseq.vc

Series A
HyperScience (2013, New York City, $28.9M) – AI-based data processing and automation
Investors: QBE Group

Post IPO
Dropbox (2007, San Francisco, $607.2M) – Cloud-based file sharing and synchronization software
Investors: Salesforce

M&A

• Cisco buys Accompany for $270 million, puts CEO in charge of collaboration as Trollope leaves ZDNet
• BRIEF-Permira Funds To Acquire Cisco’s Service Provider Video Software Solutions Business Reuters
• BRIEF-Canada’s Mitel Networks Corp To Be Bought By Investor Group In $2 Bln DealReuters
• Voicera Acquires Mobile App Wrappup To Expand AI Virtual Assistant, Eva, Beyond Conference Calls PR Newswire
• London tech startup LoopUp confirms £61m takeover of MeetingZone City A.M.
• Dialpad gets AI injection with TalkIQ acquisition TechCrunch
• 8×8 bolsters AI capabilities with MarianaIQ acquisition Comms Dealer
• quip Announces It Is Acquiring Afora To Open Up Access To Affordable Dental Care Plans PRWeb
• Interfax sold to US tech firm in €30m deal independent.ie
• Synacor Brings Zimbra X Email and Collaboration Platform to Blockchain Business Wire

New Fund Launch

• NEA veteran to head up new early-stage venture fund at Cisco The Business Journals

Funds Raising Funds

• Entrée Capital Ventures launches USD80m Israel-focused early-stage fund Private Equity Wire

New Product Announcement

• Dropbox rolls out a templates tool for its Paper online document service TechCrunch
• Avaya to Accelerate Cloud Contact Center Adoption for Asia-Pacific Market PR Newswire
• Lexmark Introduces New Generation of Mid-Range Monochrome Products PRWeb
• OpenText Secures Digital Transformation Across the Intelligent and Connected Enterprise PR Newswire
• Upland Software Speeds Requests for Proposal (RFP) Through Upgraded Integrations with Microsoft Office 365 and Salesforce® Solutions PR Newswire
• GlobalSCAPE Introduces New Product and Support Bundles Tailored to Align with Users’ Business Objectives and Provide Superior Value Business Wire
• Zoho launches Zoho One in UAE uaenews247
• Telegram Unveils Telegram Passport, the First Service for Its Future Telegram Open Network (TON) Coinspeaker
• Hive Launches Predictive Analytics to Eliminate Stressful, Reactive Work Technology-Signals
• XgenPlus launches VideoMeet App on IOS, Android Asian News International
• DocsCorp to Unveil New Integrations with iManage Work 10 at ConnectLive 2018Business Wire
• Dropbox rolls out new AdminX tools for data management ZDNet
• Upland Software Enables Superior Customer Service and IT Support Through Upgraded Version of its KCS® v6 Verified Knowledge Management (KM) Solution PR Newswire
• Cisco Launches START Products for Small Businesses in Gujarat SMEStreet
• Cisco Teases SD-WAN Security Bundle SDxCentral
• This tech startup is starting a net neutral, independent Internet Digital Journal
• Workfront Enables a Connected Enterprise with Launch of New Integration Platform, Workfront Fusion™ PR Newswire
• Ephesoft introduces new mortgage document capture platform Verdict

New Geo Entry

• RingCentral Expands with New Australia Office, Regional Channel Chief Channel Partners Online
• Mavenlink Expands to Asia-Pacific With New Office in Melbourne PR Newswire

Business Partnership

• Cisco drops Spark name, folds collaboration app into Webex Telecompaper
• Zoom announces partnership with Myntra for its new avatar Indiatimes
• Avaya and Afiniti Partner to Bring Unique and Proven, AI-Driven Behavioral Pairing to the Contact Center Business Wire
• AppDynamics and Cisco Announce Kubernetes Support APMdigest

Company Announcement

• Cisco pulls all online ads from YouTube Reuters
• Slack adds 1 million paying users amid increasing competition Reuters

Earnings Release

• BRIEF-Dropbox Reports Q1 Loss Per Share $2.13 Reuters
• Cisco quarterly revenue rises 4.4 percent financetime.org
• Atlassian Announces Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2018 Results Business Wire

Lawsuit

• GIranian officials are no longer allowed to use Telegram Engadget

Funding Rounds

Series B, $15.7M
66rpg (2005, Beijing, $19.7M) – Online platform for games related videos
Investors: Atlas Capital, Greenwoods Investments, Guo Jin Capital

Series A, $6.4M
Vidmob (2015, New York City, $20M) – Marketplace for Video editors, for mobiles. Currently in beta.
Investors: You, Manifest Investment Partners, Interlock, Macanta Invest, acadiawoodsinc.com

Series A, $3.8M
Oovvuu (2013, Sydney, $3.8M) – Online video marketing and syndication platform
Investors: cygnetcapital, Capital Pitch

Seed, $2.5M
iChannel (2017, Yokneam Illit, $3.5M) – B2B SaaS platform for streaming live sports online
Investors: 2B Angels, Plus Ventures

Seed, $1.5M
Splyce (2015, Rochester, $1.5M) – eSport match discovery and content aggregator platform
Investors: theledger.group

Seed, $271K
Ash.TV (2016, Hull, $271K) – Mobile video ad-network for advertisers
Investors: Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, Mercia Technologies

Seed
Rocketium (2015, Bangalore) – Online video creation platform
Investors: Blume Ventures, Raghunandan G, T N Hari

Series A
Haimi Culture (2017, Beijing) – AI-based video advertising solution provider for video marketing
Investors: China Digital Video

Series A
Airbeem (2012, London) – OTT video delivery enabler
Investors: Edge Investment Management

M&A

• SHAREit acquires South Indian movie-streaming app Fastfilmz to boost content play YourStory Media
• Secure Technology Provider Acquires U.K. Digital Signage Company PR Newswire
• CORRECTING and REPLACING Videology Announces Conditional Sale to Amobee as Part of Voluntary Chapter 11 Restructuring Process Business Wire
• Irish broadband group Imagine has been taken over by a Canadian investor Fora
• Baidu’s iQiyi Acquires Baidu Nuomi Pictures for USD200 Million Yicai Global
• 24i Media acquires Mautilus Advanced Television
• NeuLion Closes Endeavor Acquisition Citybizlist
• Adobe acquires Uru, an AI startup that embeds ads in videos VentureBeat
• Hulu snatches DreamWorks away from Netflix with new multiyear deal Fierce Cable
• Edge backs Airbeem Unquote

IPO

• iQiyi to upgrade AI and VR after Nasdaq IPO SHINE

New Fund Launch

• Next 10 Ventures creates $50 million fund for content creator economy VentureBeat

Funds Raising Funds

• Salesforce Ventures creates USD 100 million fund to invest in Canadian startupsTelecompaper

New Product Announcement

• YouTube revamps its Red subscription service to offer standalone music streamingTechCrunch
• YouTube Remix Streaming Service Will Reportedly Replace Google Play MusicInternational Business Times
• Hulu launches its new live TV destination and guide TechCrunch
• StreamElements Launches On YouTube to Enhance Live Stream Engagement, Customization, and Revenue Business Wire
• Euskaltel launches 1-click Netflix access Telecompaper
• Netgem launches SoundBox HD in UK with year’s free Amazon Prime Digital TV Europe
• Telaria Launches First Complete Video Management Platform Citybizlist
• LiveXLive Launches OTT Streaming App On Roku, Amazon Fire TV And Apple TV Devices PR Newswire
• Cheddar launches news channel on Snapchat Seeking Alpha
• Mirriad Introduces Scalable In-Video Ad Unit MarTech Advisor
• VTC taps Brightcove for live, VoD OTT streaming platform in Vietnam Telecompaper
• SundaySky Debuts SmartVideo Studio for Enterprise Digital Storytelling and Video-Led Customer Experiences Business Wire
• HIRO Media Introduces New Brand Campaign Control Platform MarTech Advisor
• At Broadcast Asia 2018, Telestream Showcases Market-Leading Media Orchestration Capabilities WebWire
• NLziet to launch Apple TV app in late May Telecompaper
• SPI/FilmBox launches FilmBox Africa HD and FashionBox HD channels on StarSatTelecompaper
• DirecTV Now Launches Cloud DVR With 20 Hours of Storage at No Extra Monthly CostMacRumors

New Geo Entry

• Innovid Expands Global Footprint with New Singapore Office and Appointment of Henry Schenker as Vice President, APAC Business Wire
• VidMob expands Into Europe Advanced Television
• CBS All Access launches in Canada Fierce Cable

Business Partnership

• Netflix signs a strategic partnership with Tata Sky Indiatimes
  

Company Announcement

• Cisco pulls all online ads from YouTube Reuters
• Netflix exec says 85 percent of new spending will go towards original content TechCrunch
• Hulu Hits 20 Million Subscribers; Launches Offline Viewing Techfunnel

Earnings Release

• Roku Releases First Quarter 2018 Financial Results Business Wire
  

New Feature Release

• YouTube rolls out new tools to help you stop watching TechCrunch
• YouTube will use Content ID data to display full music credits and link to the official videos VentureBeat
• Parents can now limit YouTube Kids to only show human-approved videos The Verge
• Roku adds news to its free channel, including the new streaming network ABC News LiveTechCrunch
• YouTube just started supporting HDR video on Apple’s latest iPhones TechJuice

A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.

INTERESTING STARTUPS

SenseWave (2017, Delhi), Provider of a range of integrated hardware and software platforms for real-time monitoring and management of operations, Founder is Founder of SecureMe App & Devices, mPossible Consulting & ex-SocioApps Foundation, DakshCMS and alumnus of National Institute of Technology Surat. Local comparables are AgSmartic (2017, Noida) and Cultyvate (2014, Bangalore). Global comparables are The Climate (2006, San Francisco, $109M) and Prospera (2013, Tel Aviv, $22M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Better Place (2015, Bangalore), Background verification service provider, raises $3M in Series A round of  funding led by 3one4 Capital, Venture Highway and Unitus Ventures. Link

Smartivity Labs (2015, Delhi), Educational toys and kits with augmented reality, raises $2M in funding led by Ashish Kacholia, along with participation from existing investors S Chand Group. Link

CashKumar (2014, Bangalore), Online aggregation platform for loans, raises $735K in funding led by led by Mohan Kumar and Vishal Sampat. Link

Paytm (2010, Noida), Mobile wallet and payments bank, has acquired Orbgen Technologies (2007, Chennai), Online platform to book tickets for entertainment events, for $30-40M. Link

Curefit (2016, Bangalore), Integrated health and fitness platform, acquires Fitness First (2012, Gurgaon), a leading fitness center in India with world class health club equipment, for an undisclosed amount. Link

Fastfox (2014, Gurgaon), Online brokerage company offering services for renting residential properties, Acquired RoofPik (2015, Gurgaon), an online platform for property reviews, for an undisclosed amount. Link

ComparoMeter (2014, Chandigarh), Online portal which allows users to compare products from multiple online e-commerce stores, raises $146K in funding led by Brand Capital. Link

Bharti Enterprises (1976, Delhi), Conglomerate with diversified businesses, sold 13.64% stake in Future Enterprises, Mumbai-based leading retailer that operates multiple retail formats in both value and lifestyle segment of Indian consumer market, for $35.2M. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Honor (2014, San Francisco), AI based platform to use collected data for precision agriculture, raises $50M in Series C round of funding led by Naspers Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Kapor Capital and Thrive Ventures. Link

SignalFx (2013, San Mateo), Provider of an operational intelligence platform for data-driven DevOps, raises $45M in Series D round of funding led by General Catalyst with participation from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and Charles River Ventures. Link

ValiMail (2014, San Francisco), Provider of automating email authentication solutions, raises $25M in Series B round of funding led by Tenaya Capital, with participation from existing venture investors Shasta Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners and Bloomberg Beta. Link

OM1 (2015, Cambridge), Digital health company that offers a software platform which helps organizations manage value and outcomes-based payment models, raises $21M in Series B round of funding led  by Polaris Partners with participation from existing investors General Catalyst (GC) and 7wire Ventures. Link

Notarize (2015, Virginia), Online Notary service platform in the US, raises $20M in funding led by Polaris Partners, with participation by Lennar Corporation, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Fifth Wall Ventures, Second Century Ventures and a subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp. Link

Madrona Venture Group, Seattle-based early stage venture capital firm, closed its seventh investment fund, at $300M. Link

A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Asista (2016, Bangalore), Customer collaboration platform, Founder is Ex- HCL Infosystems. Local comparables are Freshdesk (2010, Chennai, $98M) and Customer360 (2013, Mumbai, $500K), Global comparables are Zendesk (2007, SF, $85.5M) and Gladly (2014, SF, $63M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Home Credit India (2012, Gurgaon), Provider of non-cash consumer loans in retail outlets, raises $88M through a mix of innovative securitisation transactions, terms loans, and non-convertible debenture. Link

Isprava, Mumbai-based Luxury holiday home developer, raises $3M in second institutional round of funding led by the Godrej family office, Anand Piramal and the Taparia family office. Link

Aashiyaan, Kolkata-based provider of housing finance to those in the informal sector, raises $2M in Seed round of funding led by foreign social-impact investors Insitor and The Netherlands-based Oikocredit. Link

Curefit (2016, Bangalore), Integrated health and fitness platform, raises $878.2K in funding from Hrithik Roshan. Link

Chtrbox (2016, Mumbai), Influencer Marketing platform for brands and advertisers, raises $147K in angel round of funding led by Roshan Abbas and Gaurav Kapur. Link

DheeYantra Research Labs (2016, Bangalore), a platform to develop domain-specific conversational assistants with Indian languages support, has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Centre for innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship. Link

Rapido (2015, Bangalore), a mobile marketplace that allows users to book a bike taxi, acquires Getbike (2016, Hyderabad), mobile-based bike taxi hailing app, for undisclosed amount. Link

Indian Angel Network, New Delhi- based Venture Capital firm which invests in early stage businesses, raises $33.1M for its maiden IAN Fund. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Sentry (2012, SF), Real-time error tracking platform for developers, raised $16M in Series B round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates and Accel. Link

Tidelift (2017, Boston), Open source software startup, raises $15M in Series A round of funding led by General Catalys and Matthew Szulik. Link

Mobilewalla (2011, Seattle), Targeted Audience Data Provider for Mobile, raises $12.5M in Series B round of funding led by GCP Capital Partners, Madrona Venture Group. Link

Fiix (2008, Toronto), Cloud-based CMMS software solutions provider, raises $12M in funding led by BuildGroup. Link

Real Vision (2014, NYC),  Video-on-demand service for financial and business media, raises $10M in funding from undisclosed investor. Link

Hooch (2015, New York City), Membership based cocktail society, raises $5M in Seed round of funding led by lis Capital Group, and Blue Scorpion Investments, with participation from Access Industries Holdings, Warner Music Group, FJ Labs, Diesel CEO Stefano Rosso, Comcast ex-CTO Sree Kotay. Link

A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Collect.chat (2017, Kozhikode), Interactive chatbot for websites, Founder is Ex-Red Hat, Aricent, Co-founder addictiveapps. Local comparables are Racetrack (2015, Bangalore, $599k) and Verloop (2015, Bangalore, $1.04M). Global comparables are Exceed (2016, Tel Aviv, $1.5M) and Conversica (2007, Foster City, $56M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Bonphul Air Products (2017, New Delhi), Provider of air products such as oxygen optimizer for commercial and residential purposes, raises $292k in Angel round of funding from Rx Infotech and Karmesh Global Technologies. Link

KareXpert Technologies (2014, Gurgaon), Cloud-based electronic medical record platform, raises $1.46M in Series A round of funding from Reliance Industries Ltd. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Conga (2006, Broomfield), Suite of productivity tools for Salesforce users, raises $47M in funding led by Insight Venture Partners and Salesforce Ventures. Link

Reltio (2011, Redwood City), Master data management PaaS, raises $45M in Series D round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates with participation from Crosslink Capital, .406 Ventures, and Sapphire Ventures. Link

Phenom People (2010, Horsham), Talent relationship marketing platform, raises $22m in Series B round of funding led by AXA Venture Partners, with participation from Sierra Ventures, Sigma Prime Ventures, and Omidyar Ventures. Link

YellowPepper (2011, Miami), White labelled Mobile wallet providers, raises $12.5M in Series D round of funding from Visa and current investors. Link

Surkus (2015, LA), Mobile app platform for event promotion, raises $10M in Series B round of funding led by EOS Global. Link

Lumina Networks (2017, San Jose), SDN controller and other networking products, raises $10M in Series A round of funding led by Verizon Ventures with participation from AT&T and Rahi Systems. Link

A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.

INTERESTING STARTUPS

VayuJal (2017, Chennai), developer of nano-tech based atmospheric vapor to water generation unit, Co-Founder is Project Associate, IIT, Madras and alumnus of IIT, Kanpur. Global comparables are Zero Mass Water (2014, Phoenix, $31.4M) and SunToWater Technologies (2012, Palo Alto, $2.37M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

The Wadhwa Group (2012, Mumbai), real estate developers, raises $95.7M from PNB Housing Finance. Link

Acko (2017, Mumbai), tech-enabled general insurance company, raises $12M in funding led by Amazon, Catamaran Ventures, Kris Gopalakrishnan of Infosys, Hemendra Kothari, Atul Nishar and Rajeev Gupta besides venture capital firms SAIF Partners and Accel India. Link

LetsMD (2015, Delhi), online comparison platform for medical procedure and medical loan, raises undisclosed amount of funding from Ravi Garikipati, WaterBridge Ventures, ThinKuvate and SRI Capital. Link

Zivame (2011, Bangalore), internet-first brand and online retailer of women’s apparel, sold stake to technology-focused investment firm Zodius Capital. The investment firm now holds at least 45% stake in the company and backers were Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures India. Link

iNurture (2005, Bangalore), provider of curriculum design service for job-oriented courses to universities, acquire KRACKIN (2016, Bangalore), online student network focused on student and industry engagement for engineering students, for an undisclosed amount. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Rover (2011, Seattle), online pet sitting marketplace, raises $125M in Series G round of funding led by T. Rowe Price, Winslow Capital, Cross Creek. Existing shareholders TCV, Greenspring Associates and Spark Capital. Rover also closed a $30 million credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank. Link

Iceye (2015, Helsinki), earth observation company providing synthetic-aperture radar data, raises $34M in Series B round of funding led by True Ventures with participation from OTB, Tesi, Draper Esprit, Promus Ventures, True Ventures, Draper Nexus, Draper Associates, Seraphim Capital and Space Angels. Link

Waggl (2014, Sausalito), employee feedback platform, raises $7M in Series A round of funding led by by First Analysis, with participation from Labora, Funder’s Club and Rob Bernshteyn, CEO of Coupa. Link

Cloudtenna (2012, Sunnyvale), software solution for file delivery, search, and collaboration, raises $4M in Seed round of funding led by Blazar Ventures with participation from Citrix. Link

Aquiline Capital Partners, New York-based private equity firm investing in financial services and technology,  acquires RIA in a Box (2005, NYC), financial Technology and Services firm for RIAs, for an undisclosed amount. Link

A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Fitgalaxy (2016, Delhi), online platform offering nutrition and fitness coaching, founder is Ex-Deloitte, PwC, JPMorgan Chase and alumnus of London Business School. Local comparables are Mobiefit (2014,Panaji, $3.11M) and Auro (2017, Bangalore). Global comparables are Pear Sports (2011, Irvine, $9.3M) and Sportq (2012, Shanghai, $10M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Arihant Superstructures (1999, Mumbai), real estate development company focusing on the housing market in India, raises $37M in funding from from Housing Development Finance Corporation. Link

YCook (2010, Bangalore), producer and seller of vegetables and fruits with tech for preserving vegetables for long shelf life, raises $5M in Series B round of funding led by 021 Capital, Oikocredit and Omnivore. Link

ORO Wealth (2015, Mumbai), platform to invest in direct mutual fund schemes, raises $1.6M in Series A round of funding led by Powerhouse Ventures with participation by Money Forward Inc, Social Capital, B Dash Ventures, Anand Chandrsekaran and Dinesh Agarwal. Link

Bluleaf Cyberspace (2014, Bangalore), provides software solutions that aid SMBs to manage their workforce, raises undisclosed amount in Seed round of funding led by Ferns Estate and Developers. Link

HWell24, (2017, Mumbai), provider of on-demand and customized patient care services at home as well as hospitals, raises $200K in pre-Series A round of funding led by Prashant Mehta, Mitali Pawar, Nikhil G and Bhavesh P, R Ranganathan and Oncotrust. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

UrtheCast (2010, Vancouver), provider of real time HD video of Earth, raises $142M senior secured credit facility from Sound Point Capital Management LP. Link

Brd (2015, SF), bitcoin and cryptocurrency mobile wallet, raises, $32M in funding from East Venture. Link

Cast (1990, New York City), software analysis and measurement tools provider, raises $12.5M round of capital funding, from undisclosed investor. Link

Pixoneye (2014, Ramat Gan), image recognition SDK to identify customer interest, raises $8M in funding from Octopus Ventures. Link

Cloudtenna (2012, Sunnyvale), provider of software solutions for file delivery, search, and collaboration, raises $4M in Seed round of funding led by Blazar Ventures with participation from Citrix. Link

A weekly newsletter summarizing recent activity in the Chinese startup ecosystem.

DEALS OF THE WEEK

Temasek & Carlyle join other global investors in Ant Financial’s $10B round
Ant Financial (2004, Hangzhou), an internet finance company, raises $10B in an undisclosed funding round led by Temasek, Carlyle Group, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

INTERESTING FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY IN CHINA

Ant Financial Leads $200M Series D Round In Chinese Motion Sensing Firm Orbbec
Orbbec (2013, Shenzhen), a motion sensing company, raises $200M in Series D round led by Ant Financial, SAIF Partners, Green Pine Capital Partners, R-Z Capital and Tianlangxing Capital.

China Chengxin Credit Raises $70.5M Series A Round From Citic Capital, Hillhouse Capital And Others
China Chengxin Credit (1992, Beijing), a credit information provider, raises $70.5M in Series A round led by Citic Capital, Hillhouse Capital, Boyu Capital, Three Gorges Capital Holdings Co, Cherubic Ventures, Danhua Capital, Wanshi Capital and Harmony Riverside Investment Management.

Chinese Logistics Service Platform FineEx Raises $58M In Series C Funding Round
FineEx (2006, Shanghai), an E-commerce logistics solution and service provider, raises $58M in Series C round led by SinoOcean Capital, DYEE Capital, Aurora Private Equity, Qianbao.com, and Hangzhou Dongfang Jiafu Asset Management Co., Ltd.

Sequoia & IDG Capital Co-Lead $26M Series A Round In Chinese Mobile Marketing Firm Jiatui
Jiatui Technology (2017, Shenzhen), a mobile marketing company, raises $26M in Series A round led by Sequoia Capital China, IDG Capital, Qianhai Fund of Funds, JD.com, JD Finance, and GX Capital.

SBCVC, China Creation Ventures Co-Lead $21M Round In Chinese Robotic Firm
Cowarobot (2016, Shanghai), a developer of a robotic suitcase that follows a person autonomously, raises $21.2M in Series B round led by SB China Venture Capital, China Creation Ventures, Infore Investment Holding Group, Orca M&A Capital, and China Minsheng Investment Group.

Sinovation Ventures-Backed Chinese AI Business Solution Provider Chuangxinqizhi Raises $15.7M In Angel Round
Chuangxinqizhi (Shenzhen), a Chinese AI business solution provider, raises $15.7M in Angel round led by Chengwei Capital and Sinovation Ventures.

Matrix Partners Joins $15.7M Round In Chinese Boutique Hotel Chain Shilily
Shilily (Shenzhen), a boutique hotel chain company, raises $15.7M in Series B round led by N5 Capital, Qingsong Fund, and Matrix Partners China.

Alibaba leads Series B+ financing for musical production firm Seven Ages
Seven Ages (2012, China), a musical production company, raises an undisclosed amount in Series B+ round led by Live Entertainment Business Group.

Chinese Crypto Exchange Start-Up FCoin Receives Funding From Danhua, Node Capital
FCoin (2018, China), a cryptocurrency exchange company, raises an undisclosed funding amount in an undisclosed round led by Danhua Capital, Node Capital, Singer Capital, Timestamp Capital, 8 Decimal Capital, and Zipper Foundation.

INVESTMENTS BY CHINESE INVESTORS AND COMPANIES

Warburg-backed ESR, Beijing Properties set up a fund to buy realty assets worth $1B
ESR Cayman, a Hong Kong-based logistics real estate developer, joins Beijing Properties, a Beijing based property developer, to launch a fund that will acquire $1B worth of properties.

China’s ZZ Capital Terminates $812M Deal To Acquire US Energy Index Firm Alerian
ZZ Capital International, a Chinese investment company, and Aretex Capital Partners, a private investment fund at ZZ Capital, to acquire Alerian MLP Index, an MLP data, and analytics company, for an undisclosed amount.

China’s Qumei makes a $630M cash bid for Norway furniture maker Ekornes
Qumei Home Furnishing Group, a Chinese leading large-scale and standardized furniture company, to acquire Ekornes, an Ikornnes based furniture manufacturer company, for $630M.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia Sells $502M Stake In Chinese Insurer To Mitsui Sumitomo
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd, A Japan-based insurance company, to acquire BoComm Life Insurance Company Limited, a Chinese insurer, from Commonwealth Bank of Australia, an Australian multinational bank, for $502M.

Chinese VC Firm AlphaX Partners Raises $314M Debut Dual-Currency Fund
AlphaX Partners, a Chinese venture capital company, raises $314M for its debut fund-Currency Fund.

Chinese tutoring services provider Puxin seeks to raise $300M in US IPO
Puxin, a Beijing-based K-12 after-school tutoring services provider, to raise $300M in US IPO.

HK’s Arbor Ventures raises $178.6m for second $220M venture fund
Arbor Ventures, a Hong Kong-based venture capital company, raises Second Venture Capital fund at $178.6M.

Legend Capital Raises $156M For Second RMB Healthcare Fund
Legend Capital, a Beijing based independent venture capital investment subsidiary under the holdings company, raises $156M for its Second RMB healthcare fund.

Etam Group sells China ready-to-wear business to Hong Kong-based investor
Jaoboo Fashion Group International, a Hong Kong-based company acquires Chinese ready-to-wear (RTW) business, of Etam, a clothing company for an undisclosed amount.  

HNA unloads South Africa’s Comair shares as selloff continues
South African airline Comair Ltd, an airline company, acquires HNA Group Co, a Haikou based aviation company, for an undisclosed amount.

A weekly newsletter summarizing recent activity and interesting startups in South East Asia.

INTERESTING COMPANIES FOUND

Purpose (2015, Singapore) – Internet-first brand of sports apparels for men & women. Global Comparable include Kitsbow (2012, Petaluma, null) and Outdoor Voices (2013, Austin, $65.5M).

Green Waste Recycling (2015, Singapore) – Organic waste recycling service provider. Harvest Power (2008, Waltham, $243M) and Tamar Energy (2012, London, $113M).

SEA – FUNDING UPDATES

Tickled Media raises funding
Tickled Media (2009, Singapore), a digital media company for parents, raises $6.7M in undisclosed round of funding from Global Grand Leisure.

HelloBeauty raises funding
HelloBeauty (2015, Jakarta), an on-demand & in-home beauty services provider, raises an undisclosed amount in Seed round of funding from Nest Corp.

EZBuy raises funding
EZBuy (2009, Singapore), an online web and mobile-based application provider, raises $18M in pre-Series C round of funding from Ventech, Sky9, IDG, Vision Knight Capital, and China Growth Capital.

WeInvest raises funding
WeInvest (2014, Singapore), a web-based social platform for investment needs, raises $12M in Series A round of funding from Schroders.

Haulio raises funding
Haulio (2017, Singapore), a collaborative marketplace for booking trucking services, raises $747K in Seed round of funding from PSA Unboxed, 500 Startups, and NUS Enterprise.

Lifesight raises funding
Lifesight (, Singapore), a location intelligence platform, raises $2M in pre-Series A round of funding from Provident Capital Partners.

Saitex Holdings raises funding
Saitex Holdings (, Vietnam), a denim supplier, raises an undisclosed amount in undisclosed Series round of funding from Navis Capital Partners.

SEA – RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

FundPlaces announces a joint venture with Hatten Land
FundPlaces, a Singapore based property tech startup, announces a joint venture with Hatten Land, a Malaysian property developer, will create the first hospitality blockchain platform in Southeast Asia.

Go-Jek spends $500M for regional expansion
Go-Jek, a Jakarta based bike taxi aggregator, spends $500M for regional expansion.

Techcombank to raise charter capital
Techcombank, a Vietnam based technological and commercial joint stock bank provider, to raise Charter Capital Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.

Grab launches GrabFood in Singapore and Southeast Asia
Grab, a Singapore based ride-hailing company launches GrabFood in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

Analyst Picks

• Cowboy (2017, Brussels, $3M) – Developer of smart electric bicycles
  Market: Electric Vehicles > Automaker > Two-wheelers > Bicycles
• Lightyear (2016, Eindhoven, $6.1M) – Solar powered electric car developer
  Market: Electric Vehicles > Automaker > Cars
• UltraCharge (2016, Haifa) – Developed nanotechnology-based Lithium-Ion battery
  Market: Electric Vehicles > Components > Batteries
• Blue Inductive (2015, Freiburg) – Industrial and Automotive Wireless charging solution developer
  Market: Electric Vehicles > Charging Solutions > Wireless Charging
• PowerFlex Systems (2015, Pasadena) – Adaptive EV charging network for demand response
  Market: Electric Vehicles > Charging Solutions > Charging Network > Enablers

Funding Rounds

Series C, $473.9M
Singulato Motors (2014, Beijing, $1.1B) – Developer of smart electric car

Series C, $20M
StoreDot (2012, Herzliya, $146M) – Fast charging bio-organic batteries
Investors: British Petroleum

Series A, $10M
Terra Motors (2010, Tokyo, $10M) – Manufacturer of electric scooter and tricycles
Investors: Fenox Venture Capital

Series A, $6.1M
Lightyear (2016, Eindhoven, $6.1M) – Solar powered electric car developer

Series C, $4.4M
Chakratec (2013, Rosh Haayin, $7.6M) – Flywheel storage system
Investors: iArgento, Goldbell

Seed, $3M
Cowboy (2017, Brussels, $3M) – Developer of smart electric bicycles
Investors: Index Ventures, Bird, Kima Ventures, Thibaud Elziere, Bertrand Jelensperger, Harold Mechelynck, Fred Potter, Francis Nappez, Hardware Club

Post IPO, $1.4M
Workhorse Group (2007, Cincinnati) – Designs and produces electric powertrains

Series A, $725K
Pure Watercraft (2011, Seattle, $4.3M) – Developer of electric boats

Angel, $670K
Tork Motorcycles (2010, Pune, $1.4M) – Developer of electric motorcycles
Investors: Bhavish Aggarwal, Ankit Bhati

Seed
Engenie (2011, London, $2M) – Infrastructure for electric vehicle charging
Investors: Investec

Series A
Uniti (2016, Lund, $1.3M) – Developer of premium electric cars
Investors: Anthill

M&A

• Precision Camshafts acquires 51% stake in EMOSS Mobile Systems B.V., Netherlands Business Standard
• CTEK Acquires Chargestorm AB In Move To Enter The Electrical Vehicle Charging Market Aftermarket News
• Apple could buy Tesla and both companies could come out winners RT
• Exide Expands Motive Power Offering with Acquisition of Aker Wade Power TechnologiesPR Newswire

IPO

• Softbank may make big bet in $2B-$3B IPO of Tesla competitor Nio The Business Journals
• CATL approved IPO by China Security Regulatory Commission Gasgoo.com

New Product Announcement

• Workhorse Horsefly™ Autonomous Drone Package Delivery Pilot Underway in CincinnatiPR Newswire
• Mumbai-Based Ion Energy Launches UDYR, an Easily Swappable Battery for Two- and Three-Wheelers New Delhi Television
• Artem M9 World’s Safest Electric Scooter Announced for India SAGMart
• Proterra Introduces New High Power Interoperable EV Charging Technology PR Newswire
• Boosted Boards founders launch heavy-duty scooter renter Skip TechCrunch
• Tesla Semi Range Claims Have Escalated to 600 Miles TheDrive
• Motiv Power Systems Announces Industry-First OEM Integrated All-Electric Shuttle Bus with Champion Bus PR Newswire
• Efficient Drivetrains Announces Production Release of Its EDI PowerDrive7000evBusiness Wire
• Terra Motors lines up new e-vehicles for Indian market Moneycontrol
• eMotorWerks Launches JuiceNet Enterprise Cloud Platform PR Newswire
• ChargePoint unveils new 2-MW charger for electric aircraft and semi-trucks Electrek
• Polestar 1 final pricing confirmed at Auto China 2018 in Beijing Automotive World
• Codenamed AXLHE-20, High-Speed Hero E-Scooter Launch This Year SAGMart
• Pop-up Charge Point for Residential On-Street EV Charging PowerPulse
• Tesla deploys a 2 MW Powerpack system to avoid any downtime due to power outages at a glass factory Electrek
• Tesla debuts the Model 3 in China at the Beijing Auto Show Electrek
• Official Images Of The New BYD Qin Pro Hybrid Sedan For China Car News China

New Geo Entry

• Tesla to accelerate its market entry in Iceland, says Elon Musk Electrek
• Electric scooter startup picks Atlanta for southeast expansion The Business Journals
• China’s car battery king to open Japan sales hub nikkei.com

Business Partnership

• Mahindra Electric ties up with Meru for e-vehicle project Indiatimes
• Australia’s Kidman Resources to supply lithium hydroxide to Tesla Inc Reuters

Company Announcement

• Tesla planning ‘thorough reorganisation,’ CEO Elon Musk says in email Indiatimes
• Tesla’s upcoming Model Y will be ‘a manufacturing revolution’ in 2020, says Elon Musk Electrek

Earnings Release

• Tesla earnings show record revenues with record losses TechCrunch
  

Key People Movement

• From Ferraris to flying taxis: Q&A with Lilium’s new head of Product Design TechCrunch
• Tesla’s VP of Autopilot and chip guru Jim Keller is leaving, another former Apple chip designer is tapped Electrek
• Tesla executive joins self-driving car venture Waymo CNN

Lawsuit

• Nikola Motors sues Tesla for $2 billion for alleged patent infringement Financial Insiders
• Tesla agrees to partially reimburse people who bought Autopilot 2.0 in $5 million settlement of class action lawsuit Electrek

Soonicorn Club

• Unicorn

  Viewpoint (1976, Portland, $86M) – Project Management software for construction
  Market: SaaS > Construction Tech > Project Management > Suite

• Unicorn

  Mitel (1973, Kanata, $1.0M) – Integrated communication and collaboration platform
  Market: SaaS > Telecom Operators > Business Communication > Telephony

• Soonicorn

  Dialoga (2015, New York City) – Cloud-based communication solutions provider
  Market: SaaS > Telecom Infrastructure > Core Network > Software > Unified Communication

• Soonicorn

  LogoMix (2006, Boston) – Online logo designing tool
  Market: SaaS > MarketingTech > Content Marketing > Content Creation > Tools > Logo

• Minicorn

  Alloy (2015, San Francisco, $15.3M) – Cloud-based software for end-to-end supply and demand visibility
  Market: SaaS > E-Commerce Enablers > Backend > Shipping & Fulfillment

• Minicorn

  BriteCore (2004, Springfield, $15.1M) – Software solutions for property/casualty insurance carriers.
  Market: SaaS > Insurance Tech > Enablers > Back-end Solutions > Policy Administration

Analyst Picks

• Station (2017, Paris, $3.9M) – Platform to aggregate all web-applications
  Market: SaaS > Enterprise Collaboration > Project Management > Team and Task Management > Unified Application Interface
• Eat and the City (2017, Kerava, $3.8M) – Online SaaS-based white label solutions for restaurant discovery
  Market: SaaS > FoodTech > Food Discovery & Ordering > Dine-Out > Review & Recommendation > Rich Listing
• SNAQ (2017, Zurich, $10K) – Mobile app for food imaging analysis
  Market: SaaS > FoodTech > Enterprise Solution > Nutritionists > Meal Planning
• Upayogee software (2017, Pune) – ERP software for small and medium-sized businesses
  Market: SaaS > ERP > Multi-Industry > SMB-Focused
• Prognica (2017, Dubai) – Artificial Intelligence based disease management system for cancer
  Market: SaaS > Diagnostics (by Disease) > Oncology

Funding Rounds

Conventional Debt, $750M
Square (2009, San Francisco, $515.5M) – Mobile point of sale provider

Conventional Debt, $680M
Fusion Telecommunications (1997, New York City) – Ip based digital Voice and Data communication platforms

Post IPO, $200M
Alteryx (2010, Irvine, $163M) – SaaS Analytics Business Suite

Series F, $150M
Fuze (2006, Cambridge, $500M) – Cross-platform video conference
Investors: Summit Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners

Series D, $145M
ThoughtSpot (2012, Palo Alto, $306M) – Provides AI-enabled search-driven analytics platform for enterprises
Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, Sapphire Ventures, Future Fund

Series C, $100M
Knowbox (2014, Beijing, $155.4M) – Online education platform which connects students and teachers
Investors: Yunfeng Capital, TAL Education Group

Series D, $65M
Outreach (2013, Seattle, $125M) – SaaS based Lead Engagement Tools
Investors: Mayfield, Trinity Ventures, MHS Capital, DFJ, Sapphire Ventures, Spark Capital, m12.vc, Four Rivers Group

Series E, $65M
Rubicon Global (2008, Atlanta, $278.2M) – Cloud-based on-demand waste collection and management service
Investors: NZ Super Fund

Series F, $64M
BigCommerce (2003, Austin, $229M) – E-commerce platform builder for SMBs
Investors: Goldman Sachs, General Catalyst Partners, GGV Capital, Tenaya Capital

Series C, $58.1M
FineEx (2006, Shanghai, $90.1M) – E-commerce logistics solution and service provider
Investors: Dyee Capital, Aurora

PE, $56.4M
Concentra (2005, London, $56.4M) – BI solutions for HR and SCM analytics.
Investors: One Peak Partners, Morgan Stanley, Connected Capital, Joseph Schull

Series D, $52M
Leanplum (2012, San Francisco, $145.2M) – Mobile A/B testing, personalization & analytics platform
Investors: Waterwood

Series C, $50M
Cloudvirga (2015, Irvine, $77M) – Automation of mortgage lending process.
Investors: Riverwood Capital, Upfront Ventures

Series C, $46.5M
SafetyCulture (2004, Townsville, $78.9M) – Mobile Audit solution for workplace safety management
Investors: Blackbird Ventures, Index Ventures, Morpheus Ventures, Tiger Global Management, Scott Farquhar

Series B, $45M
Lyra Health (2015, Burlingame, $83.1M) – Behavioral health management solution for healthcare organizations
Investors: Tenaya Capital, Glynn Capital, Crown Venture Investment Fund, Casdin Capital, Greylock Partners, Venrock, Providence Ventures

M&A

• PayPal expands retail payments with $2.2 billion Zettle buy Reuters
• Square is acquiring website builder Weebly for $365M TechCrunch
• Cisco buys Accompany for $270 million, puts CEO in charge of collaboration as Trollope leaves ZDNet
• Infibeam to acquire Snapdeal’s Unicommerce for upto Rs 120 crore Indiatimes
• BRIEF-Permira Funds To Acquire Cisco’s Service Provider Video Software Solutions Business Reuters
• BRIEF-Canada’s Mitel Networks Corp To Be Bought By Investor Group In $2 Bln DealReuters
• Oracle Buys DataScience.com PR Newswire
• Marketo® Acquires Bizible to Create Industry’s Leading Analytics and Engagement Platform PR Newswire
• Clinical Ink To Accelerate Innovation And Growth With Major Investment By NovaQuest Private Equity PR Newswire
• Data firm IHS Markit to buy Ipreo in $1.86 billion deal Reuters

IPO

• Tencent’s WeDoctor raises $500 million, values firm at $5.5 billion pre-IPO financetime.org
• DocuSign raises $629 million after pricing IPO TechCrunch
• Avalara Files Registration Statement for Proposed Initial Public Offering Business Wire
• Financial software business Adaptive Insights files to raise $100M in IPO The Business Journals
• Ceridian up 42% following payroll software IPO technewsfan.com
• Are Dropbox Shorts Going To Be The Big Winners? Benzinga
• Cloud PBX provider NFon sees share price rise on first day of trading Telecompaper
• Dropbox tops estimates in first results since IPO Gadgets Now
• DocuSign Hones Marketing Strategy, Partners For Growth Forbes
• Factbox – IPOs cancelled in Europe, Middle East and Africa Reuters

New Fund Launch

• Salesforce Ventures Introduces $100 Million Canada Trailblazer Fund PR Newswire
• AppDynamics founder launches Unusual Ventures, a new $160M seed-stage fundTechCrunch

Funds Raising Funds

• Entrée Capital Ventures launches USD80m Israel-focused early-stage fund Private Equity Wire
• Salesforce Ventures creates USD 100 million fund to invest in Canadian startupsTelecompaper

FDA Approval

• FDA Clears Agfa’s DR 800 Multipurpose Digital Imaging System Imaging Technology News
• LENSAR Receives FDA Clearance to Perform Corneal Pockets and Flaps for Corneal Inlay Procedures mpo-mag.com
• PeraHealth Receives U.S. FDA 510(k) Clearance for Industry-Leading Clinical Surveillance Technology Business Wire
• CardioComm Solutions Files New FDA 510(k) Application for Home and Telemedicine Arrhythmia Monitoring Solution bctechnology.com
• Korea approves first-ever AI-based medical device The Korea Herald

Regulatory Change

• ShareRoot well positioned as key EU data privacy legislation goes into effect Tech Capital
• IBM Bans USB, SD Cards And Flash Drives From Every Office, Worldwide Laptops Magazine
• New bill regulating activity of Uber, Taxify in Romania, submitted to Parliament Romania Insider

New Product Announcement

• Fitbit Announces Health Partner Apps and Clock Faces Aimed to Improve Condition Management and Overall Health Business Wire
• Urban Airship Powers Real-Time Mobile Wallet Tickets and Boarding Passes with Google Pay GlobeNewswire
• HubSpot Launches Service Hub to Transform the Way Businesses Delight their Customers PR Newswire
• Microsoft Pay comes to Outlook, integrating Stripe, Braintree, Sage, Wave and moreTechCrunch
• Square launches restaurant point-of-sale platform TechCrunch
• Amazon to launch a new app store with tools for its two million sellers TechCrunch
• VMware OpenStack 5 Rolls Out for Data Centers and Telecoms Data Center Knowledge

New Market Entry

• 3i Infotech Services forays into Retail DQ Channels

New Geo Entry

• Mavenlink Expands to Asia-Pacific With New Office in Melbourne PR Newswire
• RingCentral Expands with New Australia Office, Regional Channel Chief Channel Partners Online
• New Dublin HQ offers New Relic room for expansion The Irish Times
• SAP launches public cloud data center in Saudi Arabia Trade Arabia

Secondary

• Permira Announces Sale of Magento Commerce to Adobe for US$1.68 billion Business Wire

Business Partnership

• Medallia and Facebook Define Next Generation of Collaborative Customer Experience Management PR Newswire
• Kroger inks Ocado grocery delivery deal to battle Amazon threat Reuters
• Red Hat and Microsoft Co-Develop the First Red Hat OpenShift Jointly Managed Service on a Public Cloud Business Wire
• Jewelry companies team up with IBM on blockchain platform Reuters
• Veridium to Use IBM Blockchain Technology to Create Social and Environmental Impact Tokens PR Newswire

Company Announcement

• Microsoft commits $25M to its AI for Accessibility program TechCrunch

Earnings Release

• BRIEF-Dropbox Reports Q1 Loss Per Share $2.13 Reuters
  

New Feature Release

• Slack introduces Actions to make it easier to create and finish tasks without leavingTechCrunch
  

Research Partnership

• Fitbit and Google Announce Collaboration to Accelerate Innovation in Digital Health and Wearables Business Wire

A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.

INTERESTING STARTUPS

KAI (2017, Vellore), wearable device that detects hand gestures, Co-Founder is Ex-Toastmasters International VIT, IETE and alumnus of Vellore Institute of Technology. Local comparable is IntuGine (2013, Bangalore). Global comparables are Noitom (2011, Beijing, $25M) and Nod (2013, Mountain View, $16M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Qtrove (2016, Bangalore), online retail store for home made organic products, raises $51.58M in funding led by Springboard Ventures. Link

ToneTag (2014, Bangalore), provider of a digital payment solution—based on sound wave technology, raises $8-10M in funding led by Amazon, Mastercard, Mohandas Pai, T.K. Kurien and Facebook executive Anand Chandrasekaran. Link

Toffee (2017, Gurgaon), provides various types of bite-sized small-ticket insurance policies on their platform, raises $1.5M in a Seed round of funding led by Kalaari Capital, Omidyar Network and Accion Venture Lab. Link

Myforexeye (2014, Delhi), full-service forex company offering services to importers, exporters, and individuals, raises $500k in funding from InRhythm Energy Ltd. Link

FarmFolks (2015, Bangalore), a category solution provider in the food and vegetable space for both online and offline retailers, raises undisclosed amount of funding from Menterra Social Impact Fund and Artha Venture Challenge. Link

Hero Electronix, New Delhi-based venture capital firm investing in technology space with a vision to create leading technology businesses out of India, acquires Zenatix Solutions (2013, Gurgaon), smart energy monitoring and analytics, for an undisclosed amount. Link

Stupid Chat (2017, Bangalore), hyperlocal social messaging app, has been acquired by Vokal (2009, Chicago), consulting, strategy, design and agile development services, for an undisclosed amount. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Tradeshift (2009, San Francisco), cloud-based software solution that enables business collaboration by leveraging its big supplier database, raises $250M in Series E round of funding led by Goldman Sachs, Public Sector Pension Investment Board, HSBC, H14, GP Bullhound, and Gray Swan. Link

MoneyFarm (2011, Milan), provides investment advisory to small savers through a scalable, UX driven platform, raises $53.2M in funding led by Allianz Asset Management, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst, Fondazione di Sardegna, United Ventures, Cabot Square Capital, brings total funding to $81M. Link

Azimo (2012, London), P2P money transfer provider, raises $20M in Series C round of funding led by Rakuten, e.ventures, Frog Capital, , Greycroft Partners, GR Capital Partner, MCI, Quona Capital and Silicon Valley Bank. Link

Coreview (2014, Milan), provider of management, reporting, monitoring and security auditing solutions, raises $20M in funding led by Insight Venture Partners. Link

Comet (2016, Paris), online platform to connect freelancers and companies, raises $12.8M in funding led by Otium Venture and Daphni. Link

SocialChorus (2008, SF), workforce communications platform that transforms how workers and organizations connect every day, raises $12.5M in funding led by Arrowroot Capital and Kohlberg Ventures, with participation from Western Technology Investment. Link

A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Aeva (2016, Dhanbad), IoT-based home automation platform that enables users to control electrical appliances through smartphones, Co-founder is EX-Ridobiko, CETPA Infotech, Vedisoft and alumnus of IIT Roorkee. Local comparables are Cubical (2013, Delhi, $427K) and Bluesinq (2015, Chennai, Seed). Global comparables are Plum Life (2012, Austin, $4.12M) and Konke (2010, Hangzhou, $6.1M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Pine Labs (1998, Noida), digital retail payments platform, raises $125M in funding led by Temasek, PayPal Holdings. Link

Infosys (1981, Bangalore), IT & IT Enabled Services, acquires Wongdoody (2009, Seattle), digital creative and consumer insights agency, for $75M. Link

Stellapps Technologies (2011, Bangalore), farm optimization and monitoring support solution provider, raises $14M in funding equity funding rounds led by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and IndusAge Partners. Link

Vardhman (1965, Ludhiana), manufacturer of textile products, raises $10.5M in funding by selling 1% stake to HDFC Mutual Fund. Link

Treebo Hotels (2015, Bangalore), chain of standardized budget hotels, acquires EventsHigh  (2013, Bangalore), event discovery platform with tools on targeted marketing for organizers, for an undisclosed amount. Link

Tyroo (2006, Gurgaon), mobile native advertising platform, partners with Snapchat (2011, Los Angeles), Real-time ephemeral messaging service with a timer. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

SenseTime (2014, Hong Kong), provider of deep learning based image recognition solutions, raises $620M in Series C round of funding led by Fidelity International, Hopu Capital, Silver Lake, Tiger Global and Qualcomm. Link

Voodoo (2013, Paris), mobile game development studio, raises $200M in funding from Goldman Sachs. Link

Taxify (2013, Tallinn), taxi booking app and fleet management platform, raises $175M in Series C round of funding led by Daimler, Korelya Capital, Taavet Hinrikus and Didi Chuxing.Link

Signifyd (2011, Palo Alto), fraud prevention & payment validation for online retailers, raises $100M in Series D round of funding led by  Premji Invest, with participation from existing investors Bain Capital Ventures, Menlo Ventures, American Express Ventures, IA Ventures, Allegis Cyber and Resolute Ventures. Link

Seedcamp, London-based early stage venture capital firm, closed its Fund IV, at $69.65M. Link